eHive Open Day
Collections Trust
Monday 15th November 2010
London
Zoë Hill (Vernon Systems), Laura Whitton & Nick Poole (Collections Trust)
Zoë Hill
UK Systems Consultant, Vernon Systems Ltd
Developers of the eHive collection management system
(CMS)
CMS developers since 1985
Aims of presentation:
• To provide an overview of the history of eHive
– why did we decide to build it?
• To demonstrate what eHive provides for collections
management and online access to collections
• To introduce Software as a Service (SaaS)
• To show our future plans for the ‘instant museum
website’ using our Wordpress plugins
• To demonstrate some imaginative approaches to
solving collections management software problems.
Staff in New Zealand, UK, and South Africa
Vernon CMS – 160 sites worldwide
Focused on collections management software
600 museums worldwide
World’s first Software as a Service CMS
Developed as a result of research in 2005
Independent focus
groups: Needs of
small museums
Standards: SPECTRUM,
Dublin Core, Web
Accessibility
Research
Questionnaires sent to
museum experts
Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
Software: New tools
emerging to speed up
web development
Common Themes
• Problems for small museums:
• Limited IT resources & budget
• Existing software too complex
• Publishing to the web too hard
• Run by volunteers who may
want to contribute from home
http://www.flickr.com/photos/collinmel/1450793951/
eHive collection
management system
Within eHive, each
contributor has their
own login to create and edit
object records and upload
images
eHive web admin for collections
management functions
eHive functions
• Object cataloguing
• Acquisition tracking
eHive functions
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Communities to group content
Bulk import via XML or spreadsheet
Searching and reporting
Export in text, Excel and XML formats
Public access
Example eHive user:
Champs Chapel Museum of
East Hendred, UK
About the Trust, Museum and Village
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Small volunteer run organisation
Archives, heritage objects, photographs
Looking to replace existing image database
Needed to reduce costs
eHive as a possible solution?
• Richer cataloguing functionality
• Public access with tagging and commenting
• Web admin functions for collections
management
• Outsourcing the running of the system
East Hendred Museum on eHive
Images and data converted in July 2009
East Hendred Museum on eHive
• Directory page
• Search and browse over 4,000 collection images
Records tagged with search keywords
Examples of thatch construction
in East Hendred
Outcomes for
East Hendred Museum
• Reduced IT budget
• Public access to collection
• Access to cataloguing system for volunteers
South Georgia Museum
Where are they?
About South Georgia Museum
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Remote location
No existing CMS
Museum staff onsite during summer/autumn
Remainder of year based in UK
Needed low cost way to manage collection
from both locations
The South Georgia Museum
collection
eHive forum and direct support
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/2496308570/
Sharing data
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142455033/
Sharing data
• Copyright issues
• Less control of where your data ends up
• eHive - 3rd party search “opt-out” option
• Creative Commons licences
• Copyright holders only
• Other categories
• No rights reserved, copyright unknown, all rights
reserved
Time for a cuppa
Current development
• Rights management, including Creative Commons
licences, launched in May
• Programming interfaces for integration with other
websites and products
• Support for Open Archives Initiative harvesting protocol
for Culture Grid
• Wordpress plugins to enable eHive users to build their
own museum websites, launched in October
• Museum and collection info
driven by eHive
• Represents 400 museums
• Collection records and images
from 70 museums
How did the website come about?
Redevelopment of an older
directory site
Vernon Systems were the
successful tender for the new
site
New site to be based on eHive
2006: NZMuseums focus groups
• Volunteers are key - keep it
simple
• Keep costs low
• It should be possible to
contribute without the
Internet
• Outline benefits and address
concerns
Benefits for small museums
• Reduces barriers to achieving a web
presence
• Unified approach across New Zealand
• Entry point into simple collections
management
• Minimal funds and expertise required
• Show it to the world!
Motueka Museum
Getting museums onboard
• Electronic newsletters
• Museum Development Officers in the field
• Training workshops
Spreadsheet for data contributors
• Could be used without an internet connection
• Stepping stone between existing systems and eHive
What’s an API and what’s it doing to
my museum data?
Website 1
Collection
Records
API – “the
telephone line”
Website 2
Collection Records
Redisplayed with
different presentation
.....
.....
• Application Programmable Interface
• The way two websites or applications talk to each
other
• Data created in one place can be repurposed
Why use software as a service?
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Simplifies public access
No need to buy servers or manage software
No installation
Automatic backups
Automatic updates
Fewer compatibility issues
Access from anywhere with a web connection
Smaller ongoing costs, no initial purchase cost
eHive pricing
eHive and Wordpress
• Enables a museum to build their own site
• Start from the hundreds of free themes
• Add your own graphics
• Add generic Wordpress widgets for contact forms, Flickr
image feeds, embedded videos etc
• Manage static pages and regular posts
• Embed collection info from eHive within Wordpress
eHive Wordpress plugins
• Search, Explore by Tag Cloud, Explore Recent/Popular
Objects, Add Tags & Comments
• Alter the appearance and content positioning
For example:
• Change field labels
• Hide fields
• Add tag clouds to side panel for the site
The old DCGP
website
Was averaging 4,000
visits per month
Key points for the DCGP
• Website is central to the project for data collection,
data dissemination and public engagement
• Website is very popular; averaging 4,000 visits per
month
• eHive has helped to update the site, improve
functionality and appearance
Built in 2001
No content
management system
(CMS), so
background &
project pages have
remained static
Hard to
navigate
between the 3
different sections of
the original website
Collection
content
needed to be
preserved
Decision to move to eHive
• Update the website - add new caches and publications
• Fresh look and easy navigation
• New functionality - CAPTCHA, more interaction and
eventually Twitter
• Vernon Systems offered good advice and understanding of
museums collections
• Price - very competitive and good value!
Deliberately Concealed Garments Project
(DCGP) new website
Pages using the eHive plugins can include
static content and eHive functions
Example of an eHive & Wordpress site with
different theme
Contact Information
Zoë Hill
zoe@vernonsystems.com
www.vernonsystems.com
www.ehive.com
www.twitter.com/ehive
Useful links
• For information on images and digitisation
www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk
formerly known as the Technical Advisory Service for
Images (TASI)
• The newly re-vamped Collections Link website from
Collections Trust has many downloadable resources
and new networks
www.collectionslink.org.uk
The eHive collections management
system